The 12-part Call Center Supervision series includes the 12 topics listed below, available either as instructor-led web seminars on specified dates, or as self-paced e-learning courses.  Check out the bottom of the page for ways to save money with our popular “Learning Bundles” of Call Center Supervision classes.

The Call Center School can also bring a customized seminar to your site.  Call us at 615-812-8400 to learn more about on-site training or train-the-trainer licensing of our Call Center Supervision programs.

Call Center Supervision Curriculum:

- Setting the Standards: Defining Performance Goals and Objectives
- Don’t Know, Can’t, or Won’t: Diagnosing and Treating Performance Problems
- Performance Coaching: Techniques for Shaping Employee Performance
- Call Coaching: Techniques for Shaping Call Techniques
- Motivation Marvels: 100 Ways to Improve Motivation and Morale
- Teamwork Template: Techniques for Building and Managing Teams
- Finders/Keepers: Proven Strategies for Staff Retention
- Call Center Time Management: Budgeting a Supervisory Day
- Introduction to WFM: Understanding Call Center Staffing and Scheduling
- Key Performance Indicators: Managing  a Call Center by the Numbers

Electives:

- Call Center Supervision: Essential Skills and Competencies
- Sales Coaching for Supervisors: Techniques for Maximizing Sales

Learning Bundles:

- 3-Part Coaching Series
- 10-Part Core Supervisory Curriculum
- 12-Part Comprehensive Supervisory Curriculum

Supervison Core Curriculum:

Setting the Standards: Defining Performance Goals and Objectives
Jan 12, May 10, Sep 13 – 2012

As a general rule, you can expect what you inspect. It’s critical that each employee understands his/her role and responsibilities and what performance will be expected. One of the toughest tasks is defining the desired performance in terms of measurable behaviors. For example, it’s not enough to tell staff they need to portray a positive corporate image when communicating with customers. Call center management must define every single performance expectation down to specific behaviors that can be identified and measured objectively. This session discusses how to set smart performance goals and develop a balanced system of measures to ensure that positive/negative behaviors are being inspected and recognized appropriately.

Seminar attendees will learn to:

• Define the components of a performance management model and why such a model is needed.
• Describe how to set individual performance objectives that are in line with enterprise and call center goals.
• Define the five SMART guidelines for defining performance goals and objectives.
• Practice defining competencies and specific expectations for a specified agent role.
• Identify poorly defined performance objectives and describe how to fix them.

Don’t Know, Can’t, Won’t Model: Diagnosing and Treating Performance Problems
Jan 19, May 17, Sep 20 – 2012

An employee who has been on the phones for three months keeps transferring difficult calls to a supervisor. This person must need some more training on handling this type of contact, so you schedule them to sit in on a refresher training class. Problem solved? Probably not! There are many different reasons employees don’t perform, and lack of training is a common (and expensive!) misdiagnosis. In this session, you’ll learn the six basic reasons call center employees don’t perform and symptoms of each one. You’ll be able to better diagnose performance problems and prescribe a more effective treatment for each problem situation. Anyone that supervises employees can benefit from this session!

Seminar attendees will learn to:

• Define performance gaps – what you have versus what you want.
• Identify the six reasons why call center employees don’t perform.<
• Practice diagnosing performance problems and identifying proper courses of treatment.
• Describe why training isn’t necessarily the right solution.
• Identify the steps in setting up and conducting a performance review using the DCW model.

Performance Coaching: Techniques for Shaping Employee Performance
Jan 26, May 24, Sep 27 – 2012

Call center supervisors have multiple opportunities in a variety of settings and situations to communicate with staff about their performance. In this session, you’ll learn about recommended practices for doing side-by-side coaching for improved performance, including tips on providing both positive and negative feedback. You’ll also learn about techniques to use in counseling and formal review sessions. Perfect for call center supervisors or team leaders, this session outlines the step-by-step approach to coach problem employees as well as reward good performers. The session also provides several useful tools to use in planning and conducting a coaching or counseling session.

Seminar attendees will learn to:

• Identify the differences between monitoring/coaching and coaching/counseling and when to use each.
• Describe “best practices” to use in side-by-side coaching.
• Identify tips on presenting both positive and negative feedback.
• Outline the steps of applying various feedback methods and when to use each.
• Identify the steps of a positive discipline plan.

Call Coaching:  Techniques for Shaping Call Techniques
Feb 2, May 31, Oct 4 – 2012

Call center supervisors and quality coaches have multiple opportunities in a variety of settings and situations to communicate with staff about their call-handling performance. In this session, you’ll learn about recommended practices for doing side-by-side coaching for improved performance, including tips on providing positive and negative feedback. You’ll also learn about techniques to use in counseling and formal review sessions. Hear about the distinctions needed between call coaching and more general performance coaching.

Seminar attendees will learn to:

• Identify the differences between monitoring/coaching and coaching/counseling and when to use each.
  
• Describe “best practices” to use in side-by-side coaching, including tips on presenting both positive/negative feedback.
  
• Outline the steps of applying various feedback methods and when to use each.
  
• Assemble a call coaching session planning guide.
  
• Identify coaching techniques to correct call techniques as well as to celebrate call success.
  

Motivation Marvels: 100 Proven Practices to Improve Motivation and Morale
Feb 9, Jun 7, Oct 11 – 2012

If your frontline staff members aren’t happy, your customers won’t be happy. With customer satisfaction depending on the quality of the agent/customer transaction, it’s critical to keep your staff for the long term and motivate them to perform well. This session introduces several different motivational theories and presents dozens of ideas and case studies about what’s working well in other call centers to keep the staff motivated and happy. You’ll hear about some creative contests and games you can use, as well as pick up some ideas on how to reward individuals and teams for meeting performance goals.

Seminar attendees will learn to:

• Identify supervisory strategies for providing guidance and support.
• Outline the principles of an effective reward and recognition system.
• Identify the important factors in implementing a new motivational program or contest.
• Describe the implications of using individual versus team rewards.
• Identify dozens of new ideas you can implement in your own center for improved performance and retention.

Teamwork Template: Techniques for Building and Managing Teams
Feb 16, Jun 14, Oct 18 – 2012

Most call center organizations are built around a team concept. In many centers these teams are no more than a group of people that happen to report to the same person, while in other centers, the team is an empowered, cohesive unit where each team member takes responsibility for the productivity and success of the group. In this class, supervisors and team managers will learn how to create and build a successful team, beginning with team charters and assignments. Team development will be discussed, including how to motivate team members to take on expanded roles and responsibilities.

Seminar attendees will learn to:

• Write a team charter to identify the team’s purpose and objectives.
• Organize a team matrix to outline member responsibilities and roles.
• Identify new skills that will be needed to be successful as a team member or leader.
• Describe ways to motivate individuals and the team as a whole.
• Identify most effective communications techniques to ensure cohesiveness and productivity.

Finders Keepers: Proven Strategies for Staff Retention
Feb 23, Jun 21, Oct 25 – 2012

Ask call center professionals what their top concerns are and staff turnover will likely be at the top of the list. Most would agree that a contact center manager’s biggest challenge these days may be getting and keeping good employees. This session takes a look at the turnover problem running rampant in today’s centers. We will discuss the main reasons employees leave (as well as the reasons they list for why they stay) and which of these are actually under management’s control. Through a case study exercise, see how to calculate the true cost of turnover in a typical contact center and receive a free spreadsheet for calculating the costs of turnover in your own center. Finally, you’ll hear fifteen proven ideas and tips for how to improve motivation and morale to further employee retention.

Seminar attendees will learn to:

• Calculate the hard and soft costs of turnover to the business.
• Identify the main reasons employees leave and why they stay.
• Identify specific actions supervisors can take to improve morale and retention for their teams.
• Describe the key elements of an effective retention program and motivation program.
• Outline fifteen different strategies for improving morale and retention within a work team.

Call Center Time Management: Budgeting a Supervisory Day
Mar 1, Jun 28, Nov 1 – 2012

Attention, supervisors! Could you use more hours in a day? At the end of the week, are you more likely to feel a sense of accomplishment or frustration at all the things that didn’t get crossed off your to-do list?

We can’t promise you more hours in the day, but this session can help you organize the time you do have to spend.  Being an effective leader means knowing the essential tasks that are most important to your company’s goals, the call center’s objectives, and what your team members need to accomplish. You’ll learn the essentials of good time management and set some guidelines for prioritizing the tasks with the biggest payback for your efforts.

Seminar attendees will learn to:

• Describe the importance of time management and what can be gained by managing your day more effectively.
• Eliminate time-wasters and common distractions in the call center.
• Prioritize call center tasks and increase productivity with goal-directed activities.
• Apply best practices of time management for email and desktop activities.

Introduction to WFM: Understanding Call Center Staffing and Scheduling
Mar 15, Jul 12, Nov 8 – 2012

Workforce management is the process of getting the “just right” number of staff in place every hour to maximize service and minimize cost and it’s one of the most important planning and management functions in the call center. In this session, you’ll learn the implications of getting the numbers wrong, as well as the step-by-step process of effectively forecasting calls, calculating staff requirements, creating staff schedules, and tracking daily service and performance. You’ll hear about the critical tradeoffs between staffing, service, and cost and how each of these tradeoffs affects the final staff count. Attendees will also learn the impact that each and every person can make in terms of achieving service goals for the day.

Seminar attendees will learn to:

• Define workforce management and its implications on cost and service.
• Describe why call center staffing is such a unique kind of problem.
• Outline the step-by-step process of forecasting calls, calculating staff, and creating workforce schedules.
• Identify the impact that every single individual has on meeting service goals and balancing workload.
• Outline ways to improve attendance and schedule adherence.

Key Performance Indicators: Managing a Call Center by the Numbers
Mar 22, Jul 19, Nov 15 – 2012

There are many truths told in the vast array of statistics available today in the call center – and the successful manager or supervisor will be the one that understands how to manage by the numbers and not be overwhelmed by them. This session provides a useful set of formulas and calculations for understanding the math associated with today’s most common key performance indicators (KPIs). Attendees will learn about the most common measures of performance and how to calculate and analyze them. The session will present the “top ten” KPIs and de-mystify the math behind the numbers.

Seminar attendees will learn to:

• Identify the most critical KPIs for call center and agent performance and how to calculate them.
• Calculate the service, cost, and productivity implications of staffing decisions.
• Define the critical KPIs to reflect quality of service as well as service efficiency.
• Identify the most common math mistakes made in call centers today.
• Describe how to perform a correlation analysis to ensure the correct KPIs are in place to support business goals.

Call Center Supervision – Electives

Call Center Supervision: Essential Skills and Competencies

Jan 5, May 3, Sep 6 – 2012

Being a successful supervisor in a call center requires a unique set of knowledge and skills. Training and experience in another area of the business as a supervisor might equip one with some of the needed competencies, but there are some unique requirements and responsibilities in managing in thecallcenter world. This session will focus on the challenges and most common supervisory issues in today’s center and how supervisors can equip themselves with the needed skills and knowledge to improve the effectiveness of team members, increase morale and motivation, and create a team environment that maximizes employee satisfaction, performance, and retention.

Seminar attendees will learn to:

• Identify the most desirable attributes for today’s call center supervisor.
• Outline the top ten leadership traits and why they’re important in the call center.
• Describe the most critical knowledge and skill areas for supervisors.
• Identify the most common mistakes supervisors make in managing call center teams.

Sales Coaching for Supervisors: Techniques for Maximizing Sales
Mar 22, Jul 26, Nov 15 – 2012

Most sales training programs have a very short-term effect on performance because new skills and capabilities are not consistently applied and reinforced. Training for frontline staff should ideally be accompanied by ongoing sales coaching in order to achieve consistent sales results. However, while many call center supervisors are equipped to coach a basic customer service call, they’re missing some skills for coaching and fine-tuning sales behaviors on a call. This seminar will provide the needed skills and techniques to help supervisors guide and direct behaviors to maximize sales success.

Seminar attendees will learn to:

• Define sales goals and desirable call behaviors.
• Identify motivation factors and factors in getting agent buy-in for the sales process.
• Describe ways to establish and support a selling mindset for calls.
• Identify gaps in all four stages of a sales call and ways to direct change.

Call Center Supervision – Learning Bundles

Save money by purchasing packages of seminars that fit your needs. Below are some of our most popular “Learning Bundles” in the Call Center Supervision series.

3-Part Coaching Program

The most important part of a call center supervisor’s job is to coach for improved performance. The A-Z coaching process is covered in these 3 web seminars from our Call Center Supervision curriculum:

Setting the Standards, Don’t Know,Can’t,Won’t Model, and Performance Coaching.
Price: $800  (a $100 savings compared to single seminar pricing)

Our popular coaching program is now available via self-paced e-learning. Each of these programs is made up of 3 learning modules:

E-learning – Price: $400  ($50 savings compared to single program pricing). Pricing is for single user license.

10-Part Call Center Supervision – Full Core Curriculum

The full Call Center Supervision core curriculum is also available as self-paced e-learning programs.  The 10 classes include: Setting the Standards, DCW Model, Performance Coaching, Call Coaching, Motivation Marvels, Teamwork Template, Finders Keepers, Call Center Time Management, Introduction to WorkforceManagement, and Key Performance Indicators. Students  completing all 10 courses are eligible to test for Mastery Certification in Call Center Supervision.

Web seminars -Price: $2,500 (a $500 savings compared to single seminar pricing)

E-learning – Price: $1,200 ($600 savings compared to single seminar pricing). Pricing is for single user license